How Do We Pray During The Coronavirus?
When it comes to this global pandemic, God longs for us to pray about his purposes in it.
All of our at-risk employees at Joni and Friends are ‘working from home’ these days, and I’m joining them. During break times in our work, Ken and I are shifting into ‘overdrive’ when it comes to reading God’s Word and praying (here, we are praying with Kristen who helped me get up this morning).
It’s clear that God is urging his people to rise to a higher level of prayer right now.
Just like when the bombs were dropping over London during World War II, CS Lewis wrote,
“Why, as you would have lived… when the plague visited London… or indeed, as you are already living [in this age of a global virus]… let it find us doing sensible and human things – praying.”
I’ve been posting about God’s sovereignty over natural disasters and viruses, but remember, God is also sovereign over our prayers.
When it comes to this global pandemic, God longs for us to pray about his purposes in it. For he has provided prayer as a way for us to participate in his will going forth in our world, as when he told us to pray,
“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Matthew 6:10
God puts on our hearts, what he wants us to pray about! And if it’s a mighty work he intends to do, he will enjoin a great many of his children to bring to him their (that is, his) petitions.
“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”
1 John 5:14
How does this relate to his sovereignty? Simply this: when God wants to do a work, he will see to it that all the necessary prayer is prayed which he has promised to respond to. How is God moving in the hearts of his people to pray during this coronavirus? Here are a few petitions (from a local church) which we can be confident are in the will of God during this critical time… so, please join me in crying out to our Lord right now in unified prayer:
Lord, we humbly ask that you push back and remove this virus from us; glorify yourself in this national and global emergency by using this pandemic to bring people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
For those who have suffered loss of family and friends from this virus, please comfort them.
For those who are currently sick, we ask that you heal them.
For those who are filled with fear and anxiety in the uncertainty of what to do, or in isolation of quarantine, we ask that you be their courage and that they would acknowledge your presence. Thank you for being our God who never leaves or forsakes us – be very near to the elderly in care centers who cannot see family visitors or friends.
For those who are not able to go to work and earn a paycheck, we ask that you provide for their needs. Please connect them with services who are providing food and other resources at this time.
For those who are researching and responding to the pandemic, we ask that you pour out your wisdom, knowledge and understanding in them and through them. Please incline our ears to truth and give us steadfast hearts as our confidence is in you. Give us discernment to divide rumors from reality and help us to make wise decisions and listen to good information.
For all hospital and nursing home staff, doctors, nurses, lab technicians, first responders, military personnel, and everyone who is at risk to exposure as they serve and care for those who are or may have been infected. Please protect them and give them and their families peace as they serve. Help them to keep patients calm as they work and walk in faith in you.
Thank you for joining Ken and me, and the Joni and Friends team in ‘stepping it up’ as we pray for God to move powerfully in and through COVID-19!
–Joni Eareckson Tada
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